Chapter 54

Update Time: April 24, 2013

He lay on the ground, panting heavily. A ray of the setting sun filtered through the shadows of the trees and the rock formations, landing on his face. Yun Mo looked at this long-lost sunlight, and suddenly a smile crept onto his lips.

"To hell with all that nonsense about this plane and that plane. My top priority is to become stronger and ensure my survival. As for the rest, I'll just play it by ear!"

With that thought, he finally relaxed.

His body was filthy, and he spat out several mouthfuls of blackish-yellow saliva, muttering curses under his breath, not knowing who he was cursing. He sneaked out from behind the rock formation, looked around to make sure no one was there, and ran to a nearby pond where lotuses were in full bloom. With a splash, he jumped in, startling the pink lotuses into trembling. The pond, which usually housed over a hundred precious golden carp, was thrown into chaos by this sudden black figure. The fish, half-dead with fright, swam away in all directions, their tails flapping wildly.

Yun Mo didn't care about any of this. He scrubbed and rubbed until his body was clean, climbed out of the pond, and hid in a secluded corner. Enduring the pain, he transformed back into Wen Junlai, put on the matching clothes and armor, and hung the ostentatious long sword studded with rubies that Wen Junlai had spent a fortune on. He swaggered out, the sword he had taken from Lin Meier's bedroom along with the armor. From a distance, the breeze ruffled his hair, the armor gleamed, and his handsome face and dignified demeanor made him look like a well-groomed, promising young man... Ah! A pretty boy!

Wearing Wen Junlai's appearance, Yun Mo swaggered towards the entrance of the Gongsun residence! Along the way, he exchanged passwords with the guards he encountered, sometimes even pretending to give them instructions to do their duty well! Sometimes, when he met a particularly attractive maid, he would shamelessly approach her, calling her "sister" and "little sister" in a sweet, cloying manner, and then take advantage of her, touching her waist and buttocks. This made some of the young maids blush and scold him coyly, saying, "Captain Wen is so naughty, always touching us, how shameless!" But their slender bodies would lean into him, their high chests brushing against Yun Mo's chest, showing that they were eager to be with Wen Junlai!

This scared Yun Mo, and he quickly fled! Several of the seductive maids complained, calling him "all talk and no action."

Yun Mo's behavior was just a casual act to leave the impression that Wen Junlai was still alive. He didn't expect that his act of being a rogue would not only avoid scolding but also arouse the girls' interest! As a novice in the field of love, how could Yun Mo understand what these crazy women were thinking? Of course, he was scared and fled!

Who was Wen Junlai? He was a trusted confidant of Gongsun, a man with deep scheming and a keen eye for reading people and situations, very skilled at flattery, and extremely favored by Gongsun. His loyalty was also highly trusted, which is why he had the opportunity to get close to Lin Meier, Gongsun's forbidden fruit. It was because of this trust that he had the chance to take advantage of the situation!

Moreover, Wen Junlai was young and handsome, with outstanding abilities and great potential for cultivation. He had a good chance of breaking through to the Heavenly Punishment stage and even the Heavenly Destiny stage in the future. All these factors indicated that this man would eventually rise to prominence. Therefore, although he had acted out of character by teasing the beautiful maids, this did not cause the girls to dislike him; instead, it made them think of him fondly!

"Marrying this handsome and talented Captain Wen as a concubine would be a good way to change my status as a servant! It's a shortcut to a better life!"

It's no wonder the maids had such thoughts. In the empire, there was a rule: a woman's status would be equal to her husband's after marriage. Therefore, marrying a man of high status to change one's lowly position was the greatest wish of all commoner girls in the Wisteria Empire. Of course, it would be even better if the husband was handsome and charming, and even being a concubine would be acceptable!

Similarly, a man who married a woman of higher status could also improve his own status. Thus, marriage as a means to elevate one's status became a peculiar phenomenon in the Wisteria Empire.

Women flocked to marry high-status men as concubines, while men used their skills to court high-status women as wives. This left many commoner young men without wives, leading to an increasing number of middle-aged bachelors. More and more women preferred to wait for a wealthy husband rather than marry, creating a sharp social contradiction. The empire recognized this issue but found it difficult to resolve, so it was left unresolved.

Now, every noble family's young master had a harem of concubines, but the position of the main wife was often left vacant, waiting for a woman from a higher-status family to fill it. This was not an easy task, and it caused many problems for the empire.

These girls all wanted to marry someone with a bright future, which is why they reacted this way. Reality was harsh, and this trend had been around for a long time, not something that could be changed easily.

Yun Mo had no idea about all this! He rushed out of the residence in a panic, not daring to engage with the beautiful maids who were sending him flirtatious glances. He laughed bitterly to himself, "I'm just a typical dreamer who can't match my ambitions. I daydream about enjoying the favors of many women, but when they come to me, I'm scared stiff. Yun Mo, can't you be a bit more ambitious?"

He cursed himself inwardly, determined to have the great ambition of "passing through a sea of flowers and leaving a trail of fragrance" and to avenge the humiliation of being scared off by the girls' enthusiasm.

Lost in these thoughts, he told the guards at the gate a lie about "a certain lady ordering him to go help her distant nephew with a fight." He casually showed them Wen Junlai's silver token. The two guards recorded Wen Junlai's departure time, and Yun Mo pressed his handprint. Then, the side gate was opened, and Yun Mo slipped out smoothly.

As soon as his figure disappeared around the corner of the street, Gongsun Furan arrived with a large group of people at the entrance of the residence!

The main gate opened with a loud rumble, and Gongsun, leading the way, rode in on horseback, sword in hand.

In the distance, Yun Mo retracted his gaze from the scene, a playful look in his eyes. He looked at the setting sun, took a deep breath, and felt extremely happy. He gave a flirtatious glance to a beautiful, sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl in a tight yellow dress who was looking at him with her big, watery eyes. The girl blushed, and in her flustered state, she tripped over a stone and was about to fall.

Yun Mo darted forward, grabbed the girl's slim waist, and caught her in his arms as she cried out in surprise!